Oh, I know that some people can take it too far, but I don't know how you could really police it unless the same person is making hundreds of threads from the same computer. It's easy to lie on the internet and I think most people do it relatively harmlessly. I've never personally lied about my life, but for those who do I imagine it's just a need for attention.

I do agree that there's a big difference between someone who lies and says "I'm pregnant" rather than "I'm looking to conceive in the next 5 years" and someone who makes hundreds of "joke" threads or leads people on for months on end with a complicated backstory.

Oh, I agree - I think a lot of them are just harmless teens. But I still can't help but think in the back of my head "What if this person is a creepy 65 year old man looking to infiltrate a group of pregnant women and teen girls".

I think the reason why some of us don't like the fakery, as quite often, it starts off as asking about names but then some drama follows.

There was one poster claiming to be expecting multiples (I think it was triplets or possible even quads), and what started off as asking about names (harmless enough) became more sinister, when she started to share stories of health complications and asking everyone to pray for "her babies". Berries were investing emotionally into her story. However, she ended up making it so far-fetched, it soon became obvious it was fake and she was outed.

The fact that fakery over names, can easily lead to something else, that's why I think some of us prefer to see it nipped in the bud.

And lets face it, people don't need to fake such stories, because Nameberry isn't a parenting site where non-parents might feel awkward posting about names. This is a name site, so anyone can post about names, so no-one would be "laughed at" for simply posting about their "dream quad names".

Wow. I understand that it might be fun to fake sometimes, but the deaths? That seems quite extreme. Once I saw a thread where a user claimed she was having quintuplets, and she already had twins. That made me chuckle.

aw man I was like "alas, math!" and then all of the numbers went whoosh right over my head like first order derivatives or possibly an airplane

I don't understand why people think they need to concoct some bizarre fantasy life or create phantom children/fetuses in order to discuss names. Is it that they're gluttons for feedback and think the best way to max out the number of replies to their threads is to lead other posters to believe they're expecting? (Incidentally, do posters who claim that they are expectant parents get more replies to their threads? My gut says yes, but listening to my gut is no valid form of statistical analysis.) Is it some kind of vicarious living/wish fulfillment thing? Or do they just get a rush out of screwing with people?

I don't mind fakers too much unless they start to get creepy. For example, when people try to pass off pictures of other people as themselves/their family: that is creepy. Ugh